The Dark Knight Deconstructed

Apart from his martial arts training, Bruce Wayne owes a lot to his gadgets.
In most of Batman’s incarnation in the comics, TV series, and earlier films,
the Caped Crusader uses customized gear in his war against crime in Gotham City. Of course it also helps that he’s a billionaire playboy. As the Dark Knight returns to theatres this month, we take Batman’s gear out of the Batcave and with the help of some detective work, discover real-life Bat gadgets.

Grapple Gun
A pistol-shaped device that fires a charged round fitted with a grappling hook. The Grapple Gun’s barbed projectile is attached to a retracting cable which Batman uses for rapid vertical ascent and descent.

Atlas Rope Ascender
Designed by an MIT grad student, the Atlas Rope Ascender can propel its user upwards at the speed of 10 feet per second. It’s powered by batteries and has a 113Kg load capacity.

The Joker Says:
The Grapple Gun can also be used as a non-lethal way of subduing criminals. Batman can use it to ensnare fleeing miscreants.

Cape
Developed by Lucius Fox, Batman’s cape is made from a special shape changing memory fabric. The cape can turn into a glider when an electrical current from Batman’s gloves passes through it.

Wingsuit
Wingsuits gives skydivers and BASE jumpers the ability to glide and perform aerial maneuvers. Wingsuits come in two variants, a three-wing design with wings on both arms and between the legs and a mono-wing design where the entire body is a wing.

The Joker Says:
Bob Kane’s original design for Batman’s cape was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings.

Batsuit
Originally designed for the battlefield, the Batsuit consist of several layers of protection and multiple pieces of armor. The suit is made from high-tech materials such as Nomex and bi-weave Kevlar.

Future Warrior Concept
Currently in development by the US Military, the Future Warrior Concept suit consists of several subsystems including weapons and computerized headgear. The Combat Uniform subsystem offers three layers of protection for its user.

The Joker Says:
The Batsuit in Batman Begins has the most detailed description of a Batsuit. It even has its own origin and prototype form.

Batpod
Batman’s new two-wheel ride is equipped with cannons, machine gun and grappling hook. Because of the unconventional design, Batman rides belly down on the seat and steers the bike with his shoulders. Two separate motors provide power for the front and rear wheels.

Dodge Tomahawk
Powered by a 500HP Dodge Viper engine, the Tomahawk can achieve speeds of up to 675Kph. The front and rear wheels actually consist of a pair each in order to handle the power of the bike’s V10 engine.

The Joker Says:
The Batcycle made its first onscreen appearance as a modified 1959 Harley Davidson with a sidecar. A year later, a new Batcycle was made. It was derived from a Yamaha Catalina 250.